Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekahra Reddy made a last minute effort to appease the pro-Telenganites in the party and the Opposition. In the last hour of the present Assembly session, Reddy announced the setting up of a joint committee of members of the AP Legislative Assembly and the Legislative Council to deliberate on issues and concerns on the formation of Telengana and further steps to be taken after the report from the committee.
Declaring that it has no objection in principle to the formation of a separate Telengana state, the State government decided to constitute a committee of legislators to go into the issue.
?The government has decided to constitute a committee of members of both the Houses to deliberate on the issue and the concerns on the formation of Telengana and further steps could be taken after the report of the joint committee of members from both the Houses is submitted to the government,? Reddy said in a statement.
He said the state government had no objection for the formation of Telengana state in principle and that the time has come to move forward decisively on this issue.
While making the announcement, he also blamed the Telugu Desam Party to have placed stumbling blocks in the formation of Telengana. ?Had they favoured Telengana when they were in power, Telengana would have come by now. They were only shedding crocodile tears now,? he said. TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu said the Chief Minister?s statement is an attempt to divert the attention from the allegations of corruption he is facing.
Earlier, the House rocked once again with the Opposition demanding debate on the amassing of ill-gotten wealth by the Chief Minister?s son YS Jaganmohan Reddy. The Speaker K R Suresh Reddy stood firm and adjourned the House sine die after a brief debate on the appropriation bill which was soon passed without hassle.